Jon Abrahamsson

Ikea CEO
Tulpanvagen 8, 343 34
Almhult, Sweden

Herr Abrahamsson,

We are writing to you on behalf of Community Coffee, hoping to build upon a potential business
opportunity between our organizations. Here at Community Coffee, we are big fans of the Ikea
brand. We truly appreciate Ikea's mission and values, “To create a better everyday life for the
many people.” As Ikea customers ourselves, we see this encapsulated in everything that Ikea
creates and provides, from the simplicity of the furniture to the community of the food and drink-
everything presents Swedish culture in a way that is charming and amicable. We have learned
so much about Swedish culture from Ikea through its business organization. But within this,
there is one thing about Swedish culture we feel deserves more consideration at Ikea- Fika:
coffee, and cake. The custom of taking a break from activity to simply share a coffee, little
snacks, and simply relax. It is our understanding that Fika is a crucial aspect of Swedish life, a
state of mind, and practically an institution of Swedish culture. So we here at Community Coffee
propose to Ikea, an opportunity to share Fika in Ikea locations around the world.

Community Coffee is born of community, our original shop was located in a shipping container in
an alleyway off the side of a busy street in San Francisco, California. We had no marketing, our
customers were our friends, and we survived only on donations. Yet, we preserved and through
it all, we held closely with the spirit of Fika. Our goal was not to profit but to create a space for
friends to gather, socialize, and slow down from the rush and tumble of everyday modern life.
What resulted was that we created a community, and thus our brand was born.

We here at Community Coffee see many parallels in our journey to Ikea’s values, and we
believe that a global strategic partnership would provide not only benefits to both of our
organizations, but to the everyday life of the many people. What if Ikea were to open a cafe in
their warehouses to complement the restaurant offering? According to the World Population
Review, Sweden is ranked 6th in the world for countries that drink the most coffee per person–
showing that Swedes spend approximately 9.5 days having a fikarast. What if Ikea offered a
space exclusively to cultivate for Fika? According to a study conducted by Buildd Marketing in
2023 on an Ikea in Hyderabad, they found that 30% of Ikea visitors visited simply for the
restaurant offering. We wonder, could this figure be expanded upon? Could we create a whole
new type of visitor, one that visits Ikea simply for the atmosphere and vibe?

How could we collaborate on this effort to bring Fika to the world? In such a simple pleasure, we
understand that there are a world of difficulties regarding logistics, marketing, and supplies- we
hope that our role as Community Coffee can help expedite this process. With our expertise in
community building and our relationships with coffee suppliers around the globe, it would be our
pleasure to help lend our resources and abilities to share this Swedish tradition, and help Ikea
bolster its offerings. We believe that Swedish culture is built upon empathy, pragmatism, and
fulfillment, and we hope to bring these values to not only our company, but to the surrounding
world around us.

Sincerely,
Kevin Xu
Fika Professional
Community Coffee
San Francisco, CA

Rationale:
Sweden appeals to me because of its high femininity, long-term orientation, and propensity for
indulgence. According to the Geert-Hofstede Country Comparison Tool, Sweden scores 5, 53,
and 78 on these parameters respectively. My letter is written with intent to appeal to the
Swedish culture of building community and existing in emphatic relationships. I took on a more
collectivist voice and used exclusively We/Us pronouns as well as emphasizing our company’s
journey as a means to relate and empathize with their mission statement and values. To
progress this, I hoped to provide a pragmatic look at the statistics regarding the proportion of
their visitors that come to Ikea exclusively for the restaurant offering, and consider what could
be possible if Ikea had a dedicated cafe- a Fika space.
Sweden also scores lower on uncertainty avoidance, this is something that interests me deeply
as to what is the threshold of uncertainty that a large company like Ikea would consider. Is an
Ikea Cafe too tame? Surely it is something that has been considered before, as the idea isn’t
incredibly novel- but the key selling point here is the marketing, presenting Fika, a Swedish
staple of life and culture in a means that is friendly and yet salable.
References:
The Ikea Vision and Values
https://www.ikea.com/us/en/this-is-ikea/about-us/the-ikea-vision-and-values-pub9aa779d0#:~:te
xt=%E2%80%9CTo%20create%20a%20better%20everyday,more%20sustainable%20life%20at
%20home.
Fika like a Swede
https://visitsweden.com/what-to-do/food-drink/swedish-kitchen/all-about-swedish-fika/
Geert-Hofstede Country Comparison Tool
https://www.hofstede-insights.com/country-comparison/sweden,the-usa/
Coffee Comsumption by Country 2023
https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/coffee-consumption-by-country